The Monthly Roundup || March

So this month my saving plan went through the window. Priceline had 40% off, so duh I brought stuff. We also are in the middle of a small skincare change up, so I 'needed' a few purchases. I haven't tested them out for long enough for them to be incorporated in the favourites list, but can usually tell straight away if I love or hate a makeup product. Here's what found their way into my heart this month:

March Favourites:

The Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Eye Cream steals the show this month. Never have I encountered an under eye concealer which is so perfect. It does an awesome job at ridding my eyes of shadows whilst remaining crease free all day. You need it in your life now.

Another new favourite product is the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Barely Branded. It's been a daily addition to my everyday makeup look, departing a wash of shimmery colour. It's subtle enough for daily wear, but I expect it would look great with a bold lip at night. 

I ran out of hydrating toner earlier in the month, and I'm not loyal to one so I thought I would try the Calendula Redness Rescue Toning Mist, a new release from Jurlique. It smells divine, think cucumbers, and leaves the skin feeling hydrated and calm. It's cool and quite refreshing, I think I will be going through this at an alarming rate, considering its $55 per bottle. Ouch.

I've really started to enjoy watching Reign this month. Reign is all about Queen Mary of Scott's' early life at the French Court. It's my ideal TV show with a blend of romance and historical fiction.

This month in blog posts:

I started off with a bit of a slow start to the month, I think there was about two weeks’ worth of posts missing. Uni has been crazy recently, with assignments coming out of my ears. I've got three due this week!! 

I started off by showing you my evening beauty bits and my other skin care post this month was looking after the décolletage. 

As mentioned above, Priceline had a sale, here's what I brought. 

I took a moment to review my New Years Resolutions, I'm pleased to report that most of my goals are on track. 

The beautiful Love Birds Collection from Napoleon Perdis made its way into my hands, here's a full review.

What products have you been enjoying lately? 

X Suzy

The Review || Napoleon Perdis Love Birds Collection

I was having a casual day wandering around David Jones when I first laid eyes on this gorgeous bag from Napoleon Perdis. I had to have it, just because it looked so pretty. I didn't care if the products were gross, the beauty of the bag justified the price. It's been released as a Valentine’s Day Gift Set, I know I'm a little late to write this post...

The art on the front of the bag has been done by an Australian artist, Felicia Aroney, of two Australian Fairy Wrens. It's too nice to use as a makeup bag and I would never, ever fill it! I use it as a sort of "essentials bag" as I mentioned in my “what’s in my handbag post”. It's filled with makeup bits, mints, hand sanitiser, and so on.

Included in the set is a nail polish and a lip gloss, both named White Swan. Strangely enough, the colours of the two products are quite different. The lipgloss is one which is AH-MA-ZING, in the tube it looks like a clear, pearly gloss, but it’s got a fantastic purple glow to it, very similar to the YSL Glossy Stain in Naughty Mauve. It’s a tad on the sticky side, and the lasting power isn't great, but what do you expect from a lipgloss? The nail polish is also a favourite, the colour is the most perfect lilac, really opaque and shiny. Someone asked me if my nails were shellac whilst wearing this. I've rocked it on my fingers and not suffered too badly with chipping, enough to earn a tick from me.

If you spot this set floating around on shelves anywhere, swatch the lip gloss, grab a bag and march over to the till. Or pop it into your shopping cart if you are browsing online. You won’t be disappointed. 

X Suzy 

The Weekend Pamper || A Priceline Haul

Ahhhh Priceline, the Australian equivalent of Boots, filled with cheap bits of beautiful makeup and some superb skincare finds. A couple of weeks ago Priceline had 40% off all makeup and cosmetics. It was only natural that I picked up a few things. I've since used a number of these products, so I'll give you a little bit of a review when I list them.

The first thing I grabbed upon entering Priceline was the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Barely Branded. I've been longing for a daily wearable eyeshadow, something low key and natural looking. Barely Branded fits the bill perfectly, distributing the right amount of shimmer on my lids in a beautiful Champagne-y colour. It's just perfect for everyday wear.

I was hoping to pick up the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream, but there weren't any in my colour. Instead I thought I would try the 123 Perfect CC Eye Cream. Holly cowl, it's amazing. I've been using this every day to conceal my eye bags. It's not the highest coverage concealer, so if you're after the Kim Kardashian look, this isn't for you. It does everything I want it too, without looking too concealed and fake. It also doesn't crease. At all.

Essie's Master Plan also made its way into my basket, upon ravings from Anna (link). Although I like the colour, I found myself bored of it after a while, craving for a colour with something more. I've got a feeling that it would look fab with a matte topcoat. The wear time is the standard 5 days-ish that comes with all Essie nail polishes and the finish is super shiny. A good colour to have in your collection, but not a staple.

Although I don't wear winged eyeliner as much as I used to, I've grown tired of the Rimmel Glam Eyes Liquid Eyeliner, so I picked up the Maybelline Hyper Glossy liquid eyeliner. After only a couple of applications, it certainly lives up to its name, it is super glossy. Which I love! I'm yet to form a proper opinion however.

Another product I picked up was the Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder, something I had been thinking about for a while. I wanted a powder for my handbag, it had to be translucent, pressed and mattifying. Stay Matte is just perfect for what I wanted and it truly is matte. I wouldn't want to use it every day, the ingredients are AWFUL! Parabens, silicones and even mineral oil. How ironic, a powder with oil in it.

A couple of boring bits follow, I picked up three different makeup brushes: a cream eyeshadow brush, a fine eyeliner brush and a traditional foundation brush. I've been desperate to try the very popular L'Oreal Elnett Satin hairspray and I just finished off a different brand. My old nail file snapped a couple of weeks back so I picked up a new one. 

Quite an extensive haul don't you think? 

X Suzy 

The Weekend Pamper || Sticking to New Year's Resolutions

It's the middle of March, which is perhaps an unconventional time to review my New Year’s Resolutions, but I feel like I need to assess my progress and see what's working and what's not. Before we go any further, here are some of the goals which I set out to achieve earlier in the year:

1.      Post more often. I feel like I've done a decent job at achieving this goal, I certainly have gotten more into blogging of late. Of course I would love to blog more, but there are other things in my life which take up more of my time. I'm looking at you uni.

2.      Stop picking my zits. This is the goal I’ve struggled with the most. Currently, I'm trying to break this habit using bribery, but more on that later.

3.      Look after my body skin more. A pretty successful goal so far in my opinion. I remember to put sunscreen on my neck almost every day, I cleanse it with a facial cleanser each evening and apply some samples of moisturisers and serums. 

4.      Eat more healthily. As with goal two, I struggle with this as well. I attempt to go by the 80% healthy food and 20% unhealthy, but some days that goes completely out the window. And my skin shows it the next day. I'm targeting less milk and sugar at the moment, two of my most loved foods...

5.      More exercise and Pilates. I've definitely improved my fitness levels by doing much more walking, which I'm pleased with. However, I'm yet to improve my level of Pilates, something which is so helpful for my health (I have a really bad back). Rather than doing Pilates when I'm in pain, I should be doing it regularly to prevent back pain, duh.

To achieve my gaols, I write up a little checklist on a monthly calendar. Each night I check off which goals I have achieved during the day and which ones I didn't achieve. If I achieve everything during the day, I draw a pink box around the day to celebrate my achievement, and treat myself with another square of chocolate. If I'm really struggling to achieve a goal, i.e. stop picking my pimples, I've started to bribe myself. When I can go a whole week without picking a zit, I'm going to reward myself with a NARS Velvet Lip Pencil. I'll get another prize if I can go another two weeks without picking another zit, and once I go a whole month without popping a zit, I'll get another prize. I'll report back on how well this works.